Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
Saint Davids, PA — Considering Messiah was facing Eastern University on tax day, was there really any question things wouldn't go exactly as planned?
Yes, the Falcons swept their fourth consecutive double-header by 5-0 and 4-3 scores, but it was about as easy as filling out a 1040 form for a family of 10: Following an opener that was all but over after the first half inning, the second game concluded in one of the team's wildest finishes of the season.
In the Game One, sophomore Jaclyn Merkel led off the game with a single, the fifth time in the last six games that Merkel opened things with a hit. She then stole second, advanced to third on classmate Abi Buchler's sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch. Senior Abby Bergakker followed with a single. One out later, freshman Stephanie Schell singled and sophomore Jess Rhoads walked to load the bases. Senior Nicole Adams delivered with a grand slam — her first home run of the year — blowing things open in 5-0 fashion.
With Rhoads starting in the pitching circle for Messiah (26-5), the game might as well have been over before Eastern (10-18) even had a chance to bat.
"The first inning was incredible," said Amy Weaver, Messiah head coach. "Everyone got on with a good solid hit. Nicole came up and had two strikes. We were facing a slow pitcher and we usually struggle against them so I wasn't sure what was going to happen. But Nicole got one right down the middle of the plate, and hit one over the fence in dead center. It was such a well-hit ball."
With all the run support she would need, Rhoads again dominated on the rubber, hurling a complete-game, two-hit shutout — her ninth blanking of the season in just 17 starts. She allowed just two hits, no walks and struck out 13 of the 24 batters she faced. All but two of the 13 strikeouts were swinging.
"Jess pretty much shut them down," Weaver said. "We played solidly on defense. We didn't hit too great for the rest of the game. We jumped on their pitcher in the first inning but we couldn't get anything else. We had some hits but we couldn't get anything going after that, which turned out to be okay."
Eastern's only real threat occurred in the bottom of the fourth, when the Eagles' Maggie McGowan doubled with one out. But Rhoads buckled down, getting Eastern's Janelle Fair to pop up to second and teammate Molly Oberholzer to strike out swinging.
Rhoads retired the side in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, with Oberholzer fanning to end the game.
In the second game, Eastern University started freshman pitcher Janelle Fair, and the Falcons' bats struggled.
Fair allowed just two hits in the first seven innings of work — a pair of singles from Schell and sophomore Lauren Seneca in the fourth. After three scoreless innings by both teams, Messiah made the most of those two hits, thanks to a lucky play to begin the inning.
Buchler led off the frame by striking out, but reached first anyway on a dropped third strike. Bergakker then sacrificed Buchler to second, putting the potential first run of the game in scoring position. Seneca then knocked a single through the infield, sending Buchler to third. Seneca then stole second, putting the Falcons in position for a big inning.
Schell then came through with a big two-run single, plating Weaver's club to an early 2-0 lead.
In the circle for the Falcons was senior Tori Hatt, who responded with six quality innings: The Mount Joy, Pa. native allowed just three hits and two runs, and didn't walk a batter.
Eastern was able to tie the score in the bottom of the fourth, however, as Fair belted a two-out, two-run homer — helping her pitching cause immensely.
Excluding that two-run stanza, Eastern's bats could muster just a single hit in the other five innings against Hatt.
With two outs retired in the top of sixth, Seneca belted one over the center field fence — which promptly ended the inning.
What?
"Lauren Seneca hit a home run over the center field fence," Weaver stated plainly. "But their center fielder (Theresa Esposito) reached over the fence and down where we couldn't even see her arm, and she made the catch. It was an incredible defensive catch. She stole a home run from Lauren. We would have won the game (in regulation) if not for that. It was a great hit, but an even greater defensive play."
Heading into the seventh inning, Weaver pulled Hatt out of the game and replaced her with the winning pitcher in each of the Falcons' last three games: Jess Rhoads.
"Tori allowed a homer early on," Weaver said. "Although she was getting them out after that, they were hitting them to the outfield, and I thought it was a matter of time before the hits fell in, so I thought it was time to bring Jess in. Tori pitched really well, though. I was pleased."
Rhoads ran into some trouble in the bottom of the seventh inning, as McGowan led off the inning with a single and Fair followed with a walk, putting the potential winning run in scoring position with no outs. After Eastern's Jaclyn Gangemi sacrificed the runners to second and third, Rhoads bore down: The sturdy right-hander forced Oberholze grounded out to second, and the Eagles' Samantha Terenzoni struck out looking to send the game into extra innings.
In accordance to the international tiebreaker, Messiah began the eighth inning having a runner placed on second. Weaver chose freshman pinch-runner Daniella Pusateri for those duties. Senior Lindsay Hall then reached on an error by Eastern third baseman Michele Morongell, and was replaced by freshman pinch-runner Taylor Hatt.
Following a groundout from sophomore Ashley Lehman, Merkel blasted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Pusateri and giving the Falcons a 4-3 lead. Buchler added an insurance run with a single, and Messiah led 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth.
Buchler's extra run would prove to be enormous.
After Terenzoni was placed on second, Eastern's Valerie Heffline singled, putting runners on the corners. Esposito, who had saved the game with an over-the-fence catch two innings earlier, then singled, scoring Terenzoni and sending Heffline, the potential tying run, to second.
There were no outs retired.
"When it looked like they had a pretty high probability of coming back and tying the game, my pitching coach Alex Quigley went out to visit Jess on the mound," Weaver said. "Jess just looked at him and she said, 'Trust me. I got this.'"
She had it.
In dramatic fashion, Rhoads delivered on her promise, striking out Eastern's Stephanie Weaver, Morongell and McGowan — all swinging — to end the game.
"Fortunately for us in the tiebreaker, we moved the runner over to third, got a hit and two runs, and then held them," Weaver said. "It all comes down to who can execute moving the runner over and getting her in. That's what the game really came down to today. It was a real battle."
Rhoads' second victory of the day improved her record to 18-1. In nine innings, she did not allow an earned run, and she currently boasts a streak of 26 consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run. She lowered her ERA to 0.41 for the season.
Messiah will look to add to its current eight-game winning streak Saturday, when the squad resumes Commonwealth Conference play at Albright College. Game time for the first of two is set for 1 p.m.
